LYNN — If you’re looking for vegetables in Lynn, your first thought might be to go to a grocery store. Urban farmers have an alternative — grow them yourself.
Tucked between the entrance of the Lynn Community Path are 34 garden beds, flourishing with all kinds of vegetables. This community garden is one of The Food Project’s newest gardens in the city, having been officially opened since June.
“When they built the community path, they built this garden and then the pandemic happened and it didn’t get planted for a while,” said Hazel Kiefer, a Food Project member and manager of the garden. “I got a call about it and came down to check it out and every single bed was full of weeds — except for a couple that were planted by a couple of people who had seen it was here and accessible and planted. Got to love someone taking initiative.”
Revitalizing the garden would not have been possible without help from Ward Councilor Tom Walsh, said Kiefer. “I called him asking about the water, and within 15 minutes he had it turned on. As you can see, obviously, we’re in a drought, so without that, it would be impossible to do this at all.”
Keifer said interest in the gardens was immediate. “I was like, okay. I’m going to have to [put up] flyers. Can I drum up interest and support? All I had to do was come out here every couple of days and people were really excited. Within a month, I think we had 22 gardeners…. So by the beginning of July we were pretty much all planted.”
“We live in a very international city, here in Lynn. A lot of folks coming here [are] from other places who are accustomed to having more space, who are accustomed to having more control over what they eat. And these beds are great because they’re big and they really make an impact on what you’re eating with the space that we have here,” she explained.
“You can grow a lot of food and have an actual impact on your family’s budget and also what you’re eating…. From my perspective, [this] is helping people regain some of that food sovereignty.”
Now, the waiting list for a garden bed is dozens of people deep. “Anyone who is interested in having some space to grow in pays The Food Project a yearly fee … that fee goes to water. At this garden this year, that money [also] went towards everybody [getting] unlimited seeds.”
Once people realize that community gardens are possible to maintain, Kiefer said they come to enjoy them. “People are happy to see things growing, and that someone is investing energy in this space, I think people always like to see that…. It’s obviously very economical to grow food in the summer if you can, it tastes a lot better, and it’s good for your mental health because it’s just fun.”
Emma Fringuelli can be reached at [email protected].
